The Windshorn Mountains
Cultural background: Mixed Imperial (mostly Tarigani or Nittan), Yamabunjin (native), People of the Stone (displaced traditional Yunjin) 'Language: '''Houshigo, Sun and Moon Speech, Stone speech '''Religious influences: 'Path of the Spirit , Teachings of Kindai, growing influence of Ziaoism. Amongst the peasants, minor influences of the traditional Yamabunjin religion can be felt. '''Population: '''Very spread out and fairly small when compared to the amount of territory covered by the region. '''Original settlement: '''Around the 8th Century by Imperial invasion, previous settlement made by the Ullikan kingdom. '''Major exports: '''Precious metals (gold and silver), iron, corn, alpaca wool, llamas. '''Major imports: '''Workforce, lumber, seafood Imperial invasion When the dust had settled after the wars in the north, the expansion in the south and settling of the Midlands, the Empire was finally at peace. Even the Faceless threat in the south had been mitigated with the rise of the Tiger as the Pacifying General of the South. Things were going well, but of course, some people were not happy with that situation. Warriors need wars to justify their existence and even with the territories being divided as they were, some Sons of Heaven had no clear holding for them to rule over. Over time, a decision was taken by the Bureaucracy and the Mikado to go ahead with the annexation of the Ullikan kingdom in the far west, beyond the Midlands, which mobilized four Imperial legions along with the necessary support forces from regional lords. While the Ullikan were a fairly modern and advanced nation, their limited population and decentralized government led to their quick defeat at the hand of the now well oiled Imperial military. Unlike other invasions led by the Empire, however, the local leadership refused any form of cooperation with the new regime and almost none of the locals were inducted in the Warrior caste, which led to a regional power vacuum which had to be filled by the Warrior caste from other regions. Also, unlike other Imperial takeovers, the Sons of Heaven which were put in charge of the region (from the Thunderous Goat, the 7 Gold Coins, the 9 Gold Coins, the Sparrow and the Rabbit families) were mostly just mercenaries that had served under the first Mikado in the past and that had retained their titles due to the way the Celestial Order is built. Early Imperial settlements Exploiting local wealth was easy for the Empire, as they improved on the agricultural methods used to grow corn and began mining in earnest rather than the simple mining operations which were done by the Yamabunjin in the past. Alpaca wool had been used for centuries by the locals, but it became a sign of wealth amongst the elite to have a few things made from this soft material, especially during winters in the north. The reliance on llamas by the Yamabunjin as pack animal was seen as strange at first, but the ease of raising these animals led to their adoption by quite a few people outside of the region as well. Local population benefited a lot from the introduction of lumber from the Midlands and security which the Imperial armies provided against raids from the West, along with their entry in the Imperial Bureaucracy which standardized their taxation and workload. All in all, while there certainly were bumps, trouble and unrest, the transition between the Ullikan and the Empire was actually easy enough. What made things strange for the Imperial Administration was that the Ullikan didn't build their cities and population centers as was expected, in fertile mountain passes and valleys, but rather directly on the mountain sides, using terraced farming and strong stone construction to make sure everything stayed in place. The cities protected themselves mostly by being out of the way and hard to reach, meaning most of them were not fortified, but important mountain passes and mountain tops were heavily guarded and fortified, preventing easy travel between one region to another. While this did slow down the conquest of the region by the army, it also meant that the Imperial Administration had great places to control the territory and while those forts were not comfy in any way, they did make great places for the warrior caste to establish bases of operations. Over the years, of course, villages and cities began springing out in the valleys, but those settlements never outgrew the original Yamabunjin cities. Climate and local threats The Windshorn Mountains are not without issues, of course. The region is fairly cold throughout the year and also very dry, which strongly limits the food production in the region. At high altitude, the lack of oxygen can cause those who are unaccustomed to such things to feel light-headed or sick, a thing which can be mitigated by chewing the leaves of a local plant, but the negative side-effects of this plant have been noted by many imperial doctors. If that wasn't enough, the whole region is plagued with mountain lions, great bears, giant birds of prey and various other dangerous wild beasts. Luckily, a lot of the local fauna is also quite peaceful, with large rodents and various sloths making up a good chunk of the animals in the area. Some rodents are even bred by the locals as pets and food, especially the large guinea pigs. There are other threats in the area, however. Nations west of the Windshorn Mountains sometimes stage raids against the empire, and while they rarely go as far as to declare war, some of their actions can be quite aggravating. Seditious activity in the region is also quite common, with some Yamabunjin trying to reclaim their lost kingdom, which in turn leads to limited scale battles. Tension between various religious groups, especially with the large number of Kindai temples in the region, is also a great threat to regional stability. This explosion in Kindai is a recent development in the region. With the introduction of this religion in the Empire and its suppression by the Bureaucracy at first, people needed somewhere out of the way to practice Kindai, which led to the founding of quite a few temples in the valleys of the Windshorn Mountains. This illegal population growth caused a few problems to the Bureaucracy in the region, and the increase in Warrior-Monks coming from those temples to protect them caused quite a few problems to the military administration as well. Even when Kindai was officially recognized as a religion in the Empire and the repression against it stopped, those warrior-monks were still around and since the temples in the region were the oldest in the Empire, they drew more and more members every year. The fairly cold weather throughout the Windshorn Mountains does mean that the clothing in use in the region is different from most of the Empire. Unlike the freezing cold of the far north, it is a dry, constant cold which numbs you rather than simply kill you. While some people still seem to favor animal furs, the Yamabunjin have learned over the years to make very comfortable ponchos and knitted caps, which end up being far less expensive for the general population, can be dyed and worked in strands to make beautiful patterns for the nobility and as it is not skin, it doesn't break any of the Tarigani taboos or Kindai taboos. Alpaca wool is the preferred material in these cases, but in the lowland, some farmers have begun raising various breeds of sheep imported from the west to feed the constant demand in the material. Military ponchos sometimes have metal scales weaved into them and can sometimes be used to entangle an opponent weapon. Silk is extremely rare in the Mountains, and other then wool, linen is the second most commonly used material to make clothes in the region, with quite a variety of flax being able to grow in the mountain valleys. Local members of the Warrior caste do not care much about this, but whenever they leave the region, they are often viewed as provincial due to their attire. Military presence The regional military in the mountains is quite diversified, mostly due to the origin of the Sons of Heaven which run it, combined with the current omnipresence of warrior-monks near Kindai temples. A typical kindai warrior-monk is well equipped compared to the typical roaming fanatic, wearing his temple colors on his armor and clothing, and wielding various forms of weapons, but usually a spear or a polearm. When they are on the warpath, a group of Kindai warriors will also carry longbows, which some of them are highly adept with. Kindai cavalry is extremely rare, but the fact some warriors train for years in order to become as fast as the wind still allows them tactical mobility unmatched by most “typical” militaries. Recently, a large group of Kindai temples were granted, by Imperial Decree, a southern region for them to run, stripping the Thunderous Goat of his regional governor title, even though the whole place was fiercely contested by the Goat and the Sparrow. As far as regular military goes, the 3rd and 17th Imperial Legion are permanently stationed in the Windshorn Mountains, usually near the border with the Yunjin lands and the Midlands, while the 11th legion is positioned on the western border to react to any invasion from the barbarian nations. Drafts taken from Yamabunjin people usually are not viewed as “effective”, as most would rather not fight for the Empire, and therefore most ashigaru forces in the region are drawn up from tarigani, yunjin and nittan immigrants, and as the need for ashigaru troops is more or less permanent, this means a lot of those peasant soldiers are actually professional soldiers, trained from a young age to fill the ranks of the regional armies. Mostly armed with long spears and short bows, they usually are better armored and have weapons made of higher quality steel then regular ashigaru, and sometimes their weapons are passed from father to son over the generations, a bit like a samurai's weapon. Samurai armies are usually trained to fight in the mountains, favoring weapons with longer reach like spears and polearms, but the unusual background of some of the Sons of Heaven have given rise to very specific Special Forces units in the region. As an example, the Goat's army usually includes one or more group of berserkers armed with steel warhammers, while the Sparrow's soldiers all carry a kusarigama tied around their waist, which they also use as makeshift climbing gear when it is necessary. Local culture Corn is the staple food in the region, and almost all meals are produced using corn, either in the form of tortillas, corn paste or even on the cob. Rice remains the “noble grain” in the region but as it needs to be imported, only the most powerful really get to enjoy it on more than a monthly basis. Meat also replaces most of the seafood in the meals, with guinea pigs and chicken being the favorite animals being used for that purpose. Oral tradition is very important to the lower castes in the region, and most of the cultural artifacts from the Mountains are songs, some of them being worship hymns that were transformed into nursery rhymes or planting songs, far-fetched stories and family histories. Classical poetry is almost unheard of in the lower castes, and even the local Warriors and Bureaucrats often prefer the simpler Yamabunjin style when writing down something. Sculpture on mountain faces and on stones along the roads is also a local oddity and rather than carve a statue representing a person or an animal, most local sculptor enjoy depicting scenes in their work, making it more like a painting carved in stone. Knitting and crocheting is also very popular, with competitions being held in many villages and towns, and both members of the high and low society participate to show their skills. The People of the Stone In the northern part of the Mountains stand a few Yunjin style cities built directly from the mountain walls where the People of the Stone live. Following a prophet who was deemed heretical by the Temple authority during the 3rd century, the People of the Stone exiled themselves to the Windshorn Mountains to rebuild their lives. The People of the Stone are ancestor worshipers who do not see the necessity to go to the temple during the holiday, arguing that their devotion to their ancestor is better showed through hard work at all time. When the Empire invaded the Windshorn Mountain, the People of the Stone were kind of afraid that they would be oppressed again, like they were by the Temple before, but the Rabbit, which inherited from their region, didn't care all that much for their religious ways, being a devout worshiper of the Star himself. While the People of the Stone population is negligible in regards to the general population of the region, they are a hardworking lot and many of them gladly joined the Empire as members of the Warrior caste, meaning that they are actually more represented politically in the region then the far more numerous Yamabunjin. Category:Imperial Province Category:Windshorn Mountains